April 10th (Good Friday) Round-Up!

Happy Good Friday and a wonderful Easter weekend to those of you who are celebrating. Actually it seems like every week has a good Friday when we get to see and drool over the recipe picks that everyone who stepped into the kitchen with Tyler made for the week!

Let's get right to it with this weeks selections:

Kicking us off this week is Pam from Sidewalk Shoes, who despite a sudden change in the weather and drastic drop in temperature, really enjoyed Tyler's recipe for a refreshing Crispy Asian Salad. Pam found this one to be "really wonderful", and versatile, as the chicken in dressing could be used in other Asian-inspired dishes. She also discovered a liking for raw zucchini, especially when it absorbs the yummy dressing.

Also feeling the Asian food vibe is Natashya from Living In the Kitchen with Puppies who made Tyler's Cold Sesame Noodles a part of a delicious light Asian-inspired meal. Natahsya found these noodles so tasty, "she couldn't stop eating them". She also loves the fact you can make them in advance and leave them in the fridge while you get the rest of your dinner ready to go. Perfect!

Jenny from All Things Edible likes breakfast, especially a breakfast you can make-ahead and that's where she took her inspiration for her pick this week, waffles from Tyler's Batter Three Ways. The recipe came from Tyler's recent Oprah show appearance, and all though Jenny just tried using the batter one way so far, for the waffles, (plain for her, with chocolate chips for the kids), the empty plates proved it to be a hit at her house!

Also feeling the breakfast urge was Andrea at Nummy Kitchen and she used Tyler's Muffin, Pancake or Waffle Batter, (are you suspecting like I am that this is the same recipe, different title as the one Jenny used?) to make pancakes. She found the pancakes wonderful, even leaving out the walnuts and bananas for the "picky eaters" in her house, and her husband couldn't decide if he liked these pancakes or their usual recipe better. Success! 

Muneeba from An Edible Symphony is back with the perfect breakfast or brunch dish, Tyler's Blueberry Blintzes. After a bit of a "falling out" with Tyler over not liking his Chicken Francese recipe so much, she was happy to find this wonderful recipe. Although this one takes some effort to put together, Muneeba says he has two words for all the Tyler fans out there; "MAKE IT!"

Megan from My Baking Adventures must "love her some brownies", so much so that she devoted a whole other blog to them, The Brownie Project, where you will find the post of her Tyler recipe choice this week, Amaretto Chocolate Brownies. Megan says they are "delicious" and her husband, self-certified "disliker" of brownies couldn't get enough of them. He says they are "simple, perfectly sweet, no chunky stuff, and the amaretto really made these exceptional." His only complaint? Megan needs to make more!

A carefully wrapped package of "airline chicken breasts" (boneless breasts with the bottom wing joint attached), in her freezer and Tyler's decadent recipe for Roasted Airline Chicken Breast built a lot of anticipation for Nancy of The Dogs Eat the Crumbs. Unfortunately, the recipe didn't live up to the hype for her. Although she found the recipe "tasty", it wasn't spectacular and its high fat, high effort qualities are not really her style of cooking. She did like some of the flavors and will play around with those to make a lighter dish.

Natalia from Gatti Fili E Farina loved her Tyler's Ultimate Barbecued Chicken and found that the brine made it really moist and tender. She found the sauce to be so good that although she made a couple of plain pieces for her kids, they wanted the ones with sauce and her daughter even dipped her potatoes in it. Natalia especially likes the fact that with Tyler's recipes she can "make something new, fast and good" with what she already has at home!

Kim from Stirring The Pot, is having a busy couple of weeks and needed a quick, easy Tyler recipe with ingredients she had on hand so she chose the popular Banana Bread with Pecans as her pick. She made the bread "mini" in small ramekins and found it to be good, although she is not normally a fan of nuts in her baked goods. Next time she would omit the pecans and bake it in a regular size loaf pan to make it a bit more to her liking.

Heading back to desserts this week is Christy of Enjoying My Favorite Things who picked Tyler's Caramel Apple Pie to make. Both an apple pie and a caramel lover, she was excited to try this recipe and even thought to build in some portion control by making mini pies. Christy found this to be a good pie, but still prefers her Grandmother's more traditional recipe. She found the caramel out of the pan to be "amazing" and says she should not be left alone with it!

Feeling spring in the air and finding a deal on artichokes, I made Tyler's recipe for Steamed Whole Artichokes this week and also added his Remoulade recipe for a dipping sauce over at Kahakai Kitchen. Tyler uses chicken broth, white wine, lemon and herbs in to steam the artichokes and I loved the flavor it gave them. I lightened up the remoulade and liked how well it paired with the chokes. Both recipes are keepers!

Posting a weekly grilled cheese sandwich for National Grilled Cheese Month, it was only natural that Michelle from Big Black Dog would choose Tyler's Grilled Cheese to make this week. Tyler's recipe calls for apple, bacon and Dijon and it sparked a little grilled cheese "competition" at Michelle's with different components going in and out of the cheesy sandwiches. I'd like to volunteer if she and "Mr. Tastebuds" need an extra judge!

Glennis from Cantbelieveweate has been into "brining" with Tyler lately with his chicken last week and his Pan Roasted Pork Chops with Spiced Apples this week. She loved the great flavor and moistness the brine gave the pork chops, making them survive an accidental slight overcooking. Glennis says the recipe is a keeper, even the brine on it's own, and thinks that it would be "fabulous" with a pork tenderloin.

Even with a busy holiday week and weekend, we have a wonderful collection of Tyler creations! Thanks to everyone who cooked along with us.

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Don't forget about April's "Megan's Challenge", our optional monthly recipe challenge. This month's selection, Deep-Dish Ham Quiche with Herb and Asparagus Salad, is perfect for spring and of course you can adapt it any way you like. You can get the details right here.